श्रीशिवमहापुराणम्
अथ श्रीशिवमहापुराणं विद्येश्वरसंहिता प्रारभ्यते ॥
श्रीगणेशाय नमः ॥ श्रीगुरुभ्यो नमः ॥ श्रीसरस्वत्यै नमः ॥
अथ शिवपुरणे प्रथमा विद्येश्वरसंहिताप्रारभ्यते ॥
आद्यन्तमंगलमजातसमानभावमार्यं तमीशमजरामरमात्मदेवम् ।
पंचाननं प्रबलपंचविनोदशीलं संभावये मनसिशंकरमम्बिकेशम् ॥
I meditate on Shiva, the lord of Ambika (Parvati), auspicious from the beginning to the end, having no parallel, the noble lord, the unaging and the undying, the lord of Atmans, the five-faced and the dispeller of the five powerful sins.
अध्याय १
व्यास उवाच|
धर्मक्षेत्रे महाक्षेत्रे गंगाकालिन्दिसंगमे । 1,1.1a ।
प्रयागे परमे पुण्ये ब्रह्मलोकस्य वर्त्मनि । 1,1.1c ॥
मुनयः शंसितात्मनस्सत्यव्रतपरायणाः । 1,1.2a ।
महौजसो महाभागा महासत्रं वितेनिरे । 1,1.2c ॥
Vyasa said: Sages of edified souls, engaged in truthful rites, powerful and blessed, performed a great sacrifice at the confluence of Ganga and Kalindi (Yamuna) in the most sacred city of Prayaga, a great holy centre that leads to Brahmaloka.
तत्र सत्रं समाकर्ण्य व्यासशिष्यो महामुनिः । 1,1.3a ।
आजगाम मुनीन्द्रष्टुं सूतः पौराणिकोत्तमः । 1,1.3c ॥
On hearing that a sacrifice was being performed there, the disciple of Vyasa, the great sage Suta, an excellent scholar in the Puranas arrived there to see the sages.
तं दृष्ट्वा सूतमायांतं हर्षिता मुनयस्तदा । 1,1.4a ।
चेतसा सुप्रसन्नेन पूजां चक्रुर्यथाविधि । 1,1.4c ॥
The sages were delighted on seeing him and received him with due hospitality and adoration.
ततो विनयसंयुक्ता प्रोचुः सांजलयश्चते । 1,1.5a ।
सुप्रसन्ना महात्मानः स्तुतिं कृत्वायथाविधि । 1,1.5c ॥
The due adoration being completed, the noble sages, being highly pleased, addressed him in all humility with their palms joined in reverence.
रोमहर्षण सर्वज्ञं भवान् वै भाग्यगौरवात् । 1,1.6a ।
पुराणविद्यामखिलां व्यासात्प्रत्यर्थमीयिवान् । 1,1.6c ॥
O Romaharshana, the omniscient, by your weighty fortune, the entire Puranic lore, pregnant in its meaningful content, has been secured by you from Vyasa.
तस्मादाश्चर्यभूतानां कथानां त्वं हि भाजनम् । 1,1.7a ।
रत्नानामुरुसाराणां रत्नाकर इवार्णवः । 1,1.7c ॥
Hence you are the receptacle of wonder-inspiring stories, even as the vast ocean is the storehouse of gems of great worth.
यच्च भूतं च भव्यं च यच्चान्यद्वस्तु वर्तते । 1,1.8a ।
न त्वया ऽविदितं किंचित्त्रिषु लोकेषु विद्यते । 1,1.8c ॥
There is nothing in the three worlds that is not known to you, of the past, present and the future.
त्वं मद्दिष्टवशादस्य दर्शनार्थमिहागतः । 1,1.9a ।
कुर्वन्किमपि नः श्रेयो न वृथा गंतुमर्हसि । 1,1.9c ॥
It is our great fortune that you yourself have come to pay a visit to us. Hence it is not proper on your part to return without doing us a favour.
तत्त्वं श्रुतं स्म नः सर्वं पूर्वमेव शुभाशुभम् । 1,1.10a ।
न तृप्तिमधिगच्चामः श्रवणेच्चा मुहुर्मुहुः । 1,1.10c ॥
It is true that we have already listened to the explanation of the auspicious and the inauspicious. But we are not content. We yearn to hear more and more.
इदानीमेकमेवास्ति श्रोतव्यं सूत सन्मते । 1,1.11a ।
तद्रहस्यमपि ब्रूहि यदि ते ऽनुग्रहो भवेत् । 1,1.11c ॥
Now, O Suta of good mentality, we have only one point to be clarified. If you dost desire to bless us, please explain the same, though it be the secret of secrets.
प्राप्ते कलियुगे घोरे नराः पुण्यविवर्जिताः । 1,1.12a ।
दुराचाररताः सर्वे सत्यवार्तापरामुखाः । 1,1.12c ॥
At the advent of the terrible age of Kali men have become devoid of merits. They are engaged in evil ways of life. They have turned their faces from truthful avocations.
परापवादनिरताः परद्रव्याभिलाषिणः । 1,1.13a ।
परस्त्रीसक्तमनसः परहिंसापरायणाः । 1,1.13c ॥
They are engaged in culminating others. They covet other men's wealth. Their attention is diverted to other men's wives. Injuring others has become their chief aim.
देहात्मदृष्टया मूहा नास्तिकाः पशुबुद्धयः । 1,1.14a ।
मातृपितृकृतद्वेषाः स्त्रीदेवाः कामकिंकराः । 1,1.14c ॥
They view the physical body as the soul, deluded as they are; they are atheists of mere brutish sense; they hate their parents; their wives are goddesses unto them; they are slaves to lust.
विप्रा लोभग्रहग्रस्ता वेदविक्रयजीविनः । 1,1.15a ।
धनार्जनार्थमभ्यस्तविद्या मदविमोहिताः । 1,1.15c ॥
Brahmins are in the clutches of greed, they sell Vedas for livelihood ; they acquire learning as a means of earning money; they are deluded by their false pride.
त्यक्तस्वजातिकर्माणः प्राय्हशःपरवंचकाः । 1,1.16a ।
त्रिकालसंध्यया हीना ब्रह्मबोधविवर्जिताः । 1,1.16c ॥
They have forsaken the duties of their own caste; they have almost become swindlers of others; they do not offer Sandhya prayers thrice a day; they are deprived of Vedic enlightenment.
अदयाः पंइतंमन्यास्स्वाचारव्रतलोपकाः । 1,1.17a ।
कृष्युद्यमरताः क्रूरस्वभावा मलिनाशयाः । 1,1.17c ॥
They are ruthless; they make much of their little knowledge; they have discarded many of their rites and good conduct of life; they have taken to agriculture as their profession; cruelty has become second nature to them; their ideas have become dirty and defiled.
क्षत्रियाश्च तथा सर्वे स्वधर्मत्यागशीलिनः । 1,1.18a ।
असत्संगाः पापरता व्यभिचारपरायणाः । 1,1.18c ॥
Similarly the Kshatriyas also have discarded their duties ; they associate with evil men; they indulge in sinful activities; vice and debauchery have become their main aim in life.
अशूरा अरणप्रीताः पलायनपरायणाः । 1,1.19a ।
कुचौरवृत्तयः शूद्राः कामकिंकरचेतसः । 1,1.19c ॥
They have ceased to be valorous; they never take interest in virtuous warfare; they flee from the battlefield; they follow the mean tactics of thieves and Shudras; they are mentally enslaved by base passions.
शस्त्रास्त्रविद्यया हीना धेनुविप्रावनोज्झिताः । 1,1.20a ।
शरण्यावनहीनाश्च कामिन्यूतिमृगास्सदा । 1,1.20c ॥
They have eschewed the practice of miraculous weapons; they never care to protect cows and brahmins; they no longer consider it their duty to protect those who seek refuge in them; they always indulge in brutish sexual dalliance with their damsels.
प्रजापालनसद्धर्मविहीना भोगतत्पराः । 1,1.21a ।
प्रजासंहारका दुष्टा जीवहिंसाकरा मुदा । 1,1.21c ॥
The good virtue of protecting their subjects they have thrown over-board; they strictly adhere to sensual erjoyment ; they are wicked annihilators of their own people ; they rejoice in the harassment of all living beings.
वैश्याः संस्कारहीनास्ते स्वधर्मत्यागशीलिनः । 1,1.22a ।
कुपथाः स्वार्जनरतास्तुलाकर्मकुवृत्तयः । 1,1.22c ॥
Vaishyas too no longer perform holy rite; they have cast off their traditional virtue; they have taken to crooked ways to earn more and more; they are now notorious for their malpractices with the weighing balance.
गुरुदेवद्विजातीनां भक्तिहीनाः कुबुद्धयः । 1,1.23a ।
अभोजितद्विजाः प्रायः कृपणा बद्धमुष्टयः । 1,1.23c ॥
They are no longer devoted to preceptors, gods and brahmins ; their intellect has become distorted ; miserly and tight-fisted they no longer feed the brahmins.
कामिनीजारभावेषु सुरता मलिनाशयाः । 1,1.24a ।
लोभमोहविचेतस्काः पूर्तादिसुवृषोज्झिताः । 1,1.24c ॥
They take delight in being the paramours of beautiful women ; squalid and filthy in their ideas and deluded by cupidity; they have lost clear thinking; they have abandoned their zeal for Purta and other holy rites such as digging wells, tanks, planting trees and parks.
तद्वच्चूद्राश्च ये केचिद्ब्राह्मणाचारतत्पराः । 1,1.25a ।
उज्ज्वलाकृतयो मूहाः स्वधर्मत्यागशीलिनः । 1,1.25c ॥
Similarly most of the Shudras have become depraved. Some of them show their interest in leading the life of brahmins with shining forms and features ; they too in the confusion of their minds have abandoned their traditional practices.
कर्तारस्तपसां भूयो द्विजतेजोपहारकाः । 1,1.26a ।
शिश्वल्पमृत्युकाराश्च मंत्रोच्चारपरायणाः । 1,1.26c ॥
In their eagerness to appropriate a brahmanical splendour they frequently perform penances. They cause infantile and premature deaths by their chanting of mantras.
शीलिग्रामशिलादीनां पूजकाहोमतत्पराः । 1,1.27a ।
प्रतिकूलविचाराश्च कुटिला द्विजदूषकाः । 1,1.27c ॥
They worship the Salagrama stone and other things; they evince some interest in Homas too but in their thoughts and actions they are crooked and antagonistic ; they calumniate the brahmins.
धनवंतः कुकर्माणो विद्यावन्तो विवादिनः । 1,1.28a ।
आख्यायोपासना धर्मवक्तारो धर्मलोपकाः । 1,1.28c ॥
Rich people indulge in misdeeds. Learned people take perpetual delight in disputations; those who conduct discourses in holy narratives and expound virtuous rites of worship, themselves abandon virtuous practice of the same.
सुभूपाकृतयो दंभाः सुदातारो महामदाः । 1,1.29a ।
विप्रादीन्सेवकान्मत्वा मन्यमाना निजं प्रभुम् । 1,1.29c ॥
Haughty persons assume the features of noble kings; those who liberally give, do so with a lot of fuss and haughtiness thinking themselves to be great lords and treating the brahmins and others as their servants.
स्वधर्मरहिता मूआः संकराः क्रूरबुद्धयः । 1,1.30a ।
महाभिमानिनो नित्यं चतुर्वर्णविलोपकाः । 1,1.30c ॥
Devoid of the strict observance of their traditional duties and virtues, the foolish people have brought about an admixture of various castes. Cruel in thought and obsessed by false prestiges, people have discarded the four-fold system of social classification.
सुकुलीनान्निजान्मत्वा चतुर्वर्णैर्विवर्तनाः । 1,1.31a ।
सर्ववर्णभ्रष्टकरा मूहास्सत्कर्मकारिणः । 1,1.31c ॥
Deluded people, wrongly considering themselves high-born, perform certain good rites which result only in the upset of the caste-order and down-fall of all people.
स्त्रियश्च प्रायशो भ्रष्टा भर्त्रवज्ंआनकारिकाः । 1,1.32a ।
श्वशुरद्रोहकारिण्यो निर्भया मलिनाशनाः । 1,1.32c ॥
Women too generally misbehave and err; they slight their husbands ; they are inimical to their men-in-law ; fearlessly they pursue their nefarious activities.
कुहावभावनिरताः कुशीलास्स्मरविह्वलाः । 1,1.33a ।
जारसंगरता नित्यं स्वस्वामिविमुखास्तथा । 1,1.33c ॥
They indulge in foul coquettish getures ; they are carried away by amorous dispositions; their conduct is bad; they pursue illicit connections with paramours; they turn away from their own husbands.
तनया मातृपित्रोश्च भक्तिहीना दुराशयाः । 1,1.34a ।
अविद्यापाठका नित्यं रोगग्रसितदेहकाः । 1,1.34c ॥
As for sons, they are invariably wicked without any filial affection; they take lessons in ignorant activities and succumb to various ailments.
एतेषां नष्टबुद्धीनां स्वधर्मत्यागशीलिनाम् । 1,1.35a ।
परलोकेपीह लोके कथं सूत गतिर्भवेत् । 1,1.35c ॥
O Suta, how can these deluded peoplc who have abandoned their traditional virtues get salvation here and hereafter.
इति चिंताकुलं चित्तं जायते सततं हि नः । 1,1.36a ।
परोपकारसदृशो नास्ति धर्मो परः खलु । 1,1.36c ॥
Hence our minds are always agitatcd. Indeed there is no virtue equal to helping Others.
लघूपायेन येनैषां भवेत्सद्योघनाशनम् । 1,1.37a ।
सर्वसिद्धान्तवित्त्वं हि कृपया तद्वदाधुना । 1,1.37c ॥
Since you are conversant with the essentials of all tenets, please tell us the easiest remedy for the immediate destruction of the sins of these people.
व्यास उवाच
इत्याकर्ण्य वचस्तेषां मुनीनां भावितात्मनाम् । 1,1.38a ।
मनसा शंकरं स्मृत्वा सूतः प्रोवाच तान्मुनीन् । 1,1.38c ॥
Vyasa said: On hearing these words of the sages of sanctified souls Suta thought of Shiva and told them thus.
इति श्रीशैवे महापुराणे विद्येश्वरसंहितायां मुनिप्रश्नवर्णनोनामप्रथमोऽध्यायः